Locking binder



Oct. 22, i935. H. AUBURN LOCKING BINDER Filed Nov. 1,1934

Patented Oct 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a binder metal including means for locking the pintle slides thereof in the operative or post holding position.

An object of the invention is to provide a simplied and very inexpensive means for accomplishing the above stated purpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide a` slide locking means which is durable and effective, and which cannot become out of order, by reason of wear or ordinary use or abuse.

A further object of the invention is to reduce to a minimum the number of moving and wearing parts in a lock equipped binder metal. The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom perspective view of the improvedbinder metal, part being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side View of the Fig. 1 device, the Fig. 1 device being viewed from left toV right.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a key such as may be employed to manipulate the locking means of the binder.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view showing av modified form of the device.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a key for operating the locking means of the Fig. 4 device.

As stated in a previous paragraph, a purpose of the present invention is to minimize the number of moving parts in a lock equipped binder with the result that the binder metal as-an entirety may be very inexpensively manufactured and rendered practically free of servicing or replacement even after long periods of hardv usage. Devices of the general type herein disclosed, that is, binders equipped with pntle slide locks, are not broadly new, but so far as I am aware, such devices have included complicated locking means for the pntle slides which means required considerable space either in the back or in the cover parts of the binder. It has always been a vexing problem to position the locks and mount them at locations in which they did not interfere with other portions of thev binder structure, nor add materially to the weight or bulk of the finished article. In the building of binder metals` it is desirable and in fact necessary, to maintain certain limits in size and weight so that the binder when completed, may readily be handled, transported and stored in compartments of a minimum size.

With the foregoing in mind, a detailed description of the improved device will now be given.

In the drawing, 6 indicates a back member of a. desired size, which has its side edges turned (Cl. 12S-24) to provide a series of hinge eyes 1 whereby covers or heavy leaves 8 may be hingedly supported for movement relative to the binder back. The binder back may be either straight or arcuate in cross section, as desired, there being shown for 5 the purposes of this description, a binder back which is straight in cross section.

Upon the topy face; 9 of the back member are iixed or rigidly mounted the pintle slide housings IIl and I2,l said housings extending preferably l0, from one end of the back member to the other, in substantial parallelism with the side edges of member 6. The housings I0 and IZ may advantageously be formed by bending a length of sheet metal upon itself so as to provide a substantial U 15l shape. The housings thus formed are then Xed upon the back member with the edges I3 and I4 of the housings in closely abutting relationship with the upper face 9. The housings may be secured upon the back member by the use of 20 any suitable securingmeans there being shown, however, the bendable ears or lugs I5 and I6 which are integral with the housings, said lugs or ears being extended through properly located openings I l and I8 of the back member and 25 thereafter turned over so as to clamp the housings upon the back member substantially as illustrated in Fig. l.

Each of the housings Illand I2 is adapted to receive therein a slide member I9 which car- 30 ries one or more pintles 20 for anchoring one end 2I of a sheet holding post 22. In accordance with common practice, the pntle 20 is made integral with the slide member or bar I9, and the pntle is of sulicient length to extend through a trans- 35 verse bore 23 provided in one end of the sheet holding post. Between the end 24 of the pntle and the abutment 25 opposite thereto, is formed a space of sufficient length to permit complete withdrawal of the pntle from the bore in the 40 sheet holding post, so that the post may be removed bodily from association with the pntle slide and its associated housing. It will be understood that any desired number of pintles and sheet holding posts may constitutev the binder 45 depending upon the sheet size or the number of perforations provided in the sheets. It will be observed that the lower edges 55 of the pintle slides are free to glide upon the upper face 9 of the back member, within the limits of the housings IG and I2. Each pintle preferably is provided with a suitable handle or extension 26 whereby the slide may be moved longitudinally relative to its housing. At least one end of the back member is provided with a depending end 515 plate or closure member 21, this member being preferably arcuate in formation so as to conform with the general configuration of a rear closure (not shown), of the binder when completed. For a more detailed showing of one mode of attachment of a rear closure, reference is made to my issued Patent No. 1,891,037 which was issued December 13, 1932. If the rear of the binder is to be angular, the end plates may preferably be made angular also, thisbeing a matter of design only.

The end plate or plates 21 may be integral with the back member, or separately mounted thereon, as desired. The end plate 21 is provided with a pair of perforations 28 each of which is made in the shape of a keyhole for reception of the stem 29 and bit 30 of a key such as isillustrated, (Fig. 3). Pilot pins or studs 3| and 32 for the key, are extended outwardly from an anchor block 33, said pins or studs being disposed substantially in axial alignment with the centers of the circular portions of the keyholes. The key of Fig. 3 has a longitudinal bore 34 for reception of a pilot pin upon insertion of the key into a keyhole. The mounting member 33 for the pilot pins or studs is xed upon the lower face of the back member with the use of any known fastening means, there being shown rivets or screws 35 for that purpose.

Intermediate the member 33 and the end piece 21 is a Vshort spacer in the form of an outwardly extended `block 36 which is fixed relative to the back member and the member 33. Block 36 and member 33 are sorelated as to form a shortstemmed T. Upon the exposed face 31 of block `36 there is riveted or otherwise fixed a resilient arm or leaf spring 38, which arm or spring has the lock bolts 39 and 40 xed thereto. The bolts 'extend toward the back member, and through perforations 4| and 42 thereof, so as Vto engage seats or notches 43 provided in the edges 55 of the pintle-slides. In the normal or closed condition of the binder structure, the bolts are seated in the notches 43 of their respective pintle slides. Upon inserting the key into one of the keyholes 28 to an extent sufficient for disposition of the bit 3i? above the springer arm 38, the key may be rotated to compel downward iiexing of the spring and the resultant withdrawal of its associated bolt from the seat or notch of the adjacent pintle slide. The slide thereupon may be withdrawn sufliciently to release one or more of the sheet holding posts. After the slide has been moved to the post releasing position, the key may be removed from the keyhole, thereby permitting the lock bolt to ride upon the` straight lower edge 55 of the pintle slide, until said slide is moved inwardly to the post holding position. Upon movement of the slide to such position, the bolt will automatically be projected into the seat or notch 43, by reason of resiliency of the arm or spring which supports the bolt thereby to securely lock the pintle slide against further movement.

In the device of Figs. 1 and 2, the spring or bolt supporting arm 38 is disposed remote from the end piece 21, so that it is necessary to employ a relatively long key for manipulation of the bolts. This construction together with the pilot pins or studs, serves to preclude picking of the lock with the use of makeshift instrumentalities. In the device of Fig. 4, the leaf spring or arm |38 is mounted upon a block or spacer |33 closely adjacent to the end plate |21, so that a short key |34 may be employed for lifting the lock bolts |39 or |40. The keyholes |28, in the Fig. 4 structure, are not provided with pilot pins such as are found in the Fig. 1 device, wherefore suitable key guides |3| and |32 are mounted upon the binder back behind the spring member,

for reception of the end or pin |29 of the key. The bit |30 of said key may be curved or otherwise formed to nt a correspondingly shaped keyhole at |28. 'I'he slides ||9 and their guides |||l will, of course, be identical with the slides and guides shown in Fig. l, except that the bolt notch or seat is located closer to the handles or extensions |26. The parts IBI) and |10 correspond to the parts 6 and 1, respectively, of the Fig. 1 device. In both forms of the invention, the leaf Aspringer resilient arm which supports the locking bolts, will be anchored at the mid-portion thereof, upon the back member, in spaced relationship to the back member.

It is to beunderstood that various modications, and changes'in the structural details may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A binder metal comprising in combination aback member, a pair of spaced pintle slide housings mounted upon the back member, a pintle slide reciprocably supported within each of said housings, said slides each having a bolt seat formed therein, an end plate on the back member and having formed therein two keyholes, one for each slide and a pair of slide bolting means disposed remotely from the end plate, one behind each keyhole, for entering its associated seat and individually preventing movement of the slides, and releasable by means of a key inserted selectively into the keyholes and key pilot pins mounted longitudinally of the back member and extended substantially into the keyholes, to pre- 40.

vent insertion of a tool of sufcient thickness to unseat the slide bolting means.

2. A binder metal comprising in combination a back member, a pair of spaced pintle slide housings mounted upon the back member, a pin- 4,5`

tle slide reciprocablysupported within each of said housings, an end plate on the back member, said plate having formed therein a pair of spaced keyholes, a key operated spring latch mounted remotely from and behindY each keyhole for individually preventing movement of the slides and releasable by means of a key inserted selectively into the keyholes and means spanning the space between the keyholes and the spring latches, positioned and proportioned to prevent insertion of a tool large enough to actuate the spring latches at their remote positions behind the respective keyholes.

3. A binder metal comprising in combination a back member, a pair of spaced pintle slide housings mounted upon the back member, a pintle slide reciprocably supported within each of said housings, an end plate on the back member, said plate having formed therein a pair of spaced keyholes, and key operated means behind each keyhole for individually preventing movement of the slides and releasable by means of a key inserted selectively into the keyholes, said key operated means including a single leaf spring fixed substantially at its mid-point transversely of the back member and of the axes of the keyholes, and slide bolts fixed adjacent to opposite ends of said single leaf spring and arranged for bolting said pintle slides.

4. A binder metal comprising in combination a back member, a pair of spaced pintle slide housings mounted upon the back member, a pintle slide reciprocably supported Within each of said housings, an end plate on the back member said plate having formed therein a pair of spaced keyholes, and key operated means behind each keyhole for individually preventing movement of the slides and releasable by means of a key inserted selectively into the keyholes, said key operated means including a pair of movable slide bolts and a common mounting member Ior'said bolts.

5. In combination, a plate-like back member for a binder, said back member including side edges and an angularly disposed end plate provided With a pair of spaced keyholes, the back member having formed therein a pair of bolt holes spaced from the end plate and located near the side edges of the back member, a pair of inverted U-shaped slide housings fixed upon one face of the plate-like back member in substantial parallelism With the side edges thereof, the legs of each housing straddling one of the bolt holes, a pintle slide reciprocably supported in each of said slide housings, each pintle slide having an edge slidable adjacent to the back member, said edges each having a bolt seat registrable with one bolt hole, locking means including a pair of pintle slide locking bolts one each of which normally extends through a bolt hole to engage the bolt seat of its associated slide, the locking means being releasable selectively and individually by means of a key inserted through one of the key holes in the end plate.

6. In combination, a plate-like back member for a binder, said back member including side edges and an angularly disposed end plate provided with a pair of spaced key holes, the back member having formed therein a pair of bolt holes spaced from the end plate and located near the side edges of the back member, a pair of inverted U-shaped slide housings iixed upon one face of the plate-like back member in substantial parallelism with the side edges thereof, the legs of each housing straddling one of the bolt holes, a pintle slide reciprocably supported in each of said slide housings, each pintle slide having an edge slidable adjacent to the back member, said edges each having a bolt seat registrable with one bolt hole, locking means including a pair of pintle slide locking bolts each one of which normally extends through a bolt hole to engage the bolt seat of its adjacent slide, and a. yielding support element for each bolt, said support elements being disposed one behind each key hole in position to be moved by a key manipulated in the corresponding key hole for retracting the corresponding bolt whereby to liberate one of the slides.

7. In combination, a plate-like back member for a binder, said back member including side edges and an angularly disposed end plate provided With a pair of spaced key holes, the back member having formed therein a pair of bolt holes spaced from the end plate and located near the side edges of the back member, a pair of inverted U-shaped slide housings xed upon one face of the plate-like back member in substantial parallelism with the side edges thereof, the legs of each housing straddling one of the bolt holes, a pintle slide reciprocably supported in each of said slide housings, each pintle slide having an edge slidable adjacent to the back member, said edges each having a bolt seat reglstrable with one bolt hole, locking means including a pair of pintle slide locking bolts each one of which normally extends through a bolt hole toy engage the bolt seat of its adjacent slide, a yielding bolt-supporting arm extending transversely of the back member from one bolt hole to the other, and located behind the end plate in spaced relation to the back member, in position to be contacted and moved by means of a key inserted into either one of the key holes in the end plate.

8. In combination, a plate-like back member for a binder, said back member including side edges and an angularly disposed end plate provided with a pair of spaced key holes, the back member having formed therein a pair of bolt spaced from the end plate and located near the side edges of the back member, a pair of inverted U-shaped slide housings xed upon one face of the plate-like back member in substantial parallelism with the side edges thereof, the legs of each housing straddling one of the bolt holes, a pintle slide reciprocably supported in each of said slide housings, each pintle slide having an edge slidable adjacent to the back member, said edges each having a bolt seat registrable with one bolt hole, locking means including a pair of pintle other, and located behind the end plate in spaced relation to the back member, in position to be contacted and moved by means o1' a key inserted into either one of the key holes in the end plate, a pilot pin associated with each key hole for guiding a key bit toward said yielding arm, and means for supporting both pilot pins longitudinally of the back member from the end plate to the said yielding arm.

HUBERT AUBURN. 

